Riddle Heights take back the city

Oh! Herp, misunderstanding of a non-misunderstanding... it's like Inception only with pure confusion. Which I suppose is what Inception is anyway.

<blockquote>She sure was easily distracted, Trisden thought idly as the larger girl's demeanour dampened a bit and she began to talk about this elusive person. The Lyall did feel slightly guilty about her judgement when it was revealed that it was her father who was missing; Trisden understood the pain of being parted from a beloved parent, if, in her case, it was her own fault. She winced when a bear was mentioned, so clearly some traces of empathy remained in the child. Or perhaps it was only because she was projecting so much of her own troubles on this perfect stranger. Certainly, it's a simple task to empathise with yourself.

Her earlier assessment continued to prove true, though in this case Trisden felt as though it were a deliberate attempt to change topics rather than the wanderings of a feeble mind. Automatically her own amber eyes drew out towards the wilderness, drinking it in as she pondered the question. Truly it was a significant one, though that was entirely coincidental. No doubt this stranger had no idea the weight of it.

<b>"Yes, I did,"</b> she replied softly, then quickly amended: <b>"I do."</b> At least, if they welcomed her back, and that was no guarantee. She would not pretend otherwise and risk further heartbreak. If she steeled herself to it now...

<b>"What if you don't find him?"</b> she asked suddenly, surprised at herself. It wasn't as though she really cared - but if she was going to project, then... might as well do it properly. While rejection was something she was prepared for, <i>what came next</i> - that was the terrifying bit.</blockquote>

Narimé thought about the question.
What if I don't find him? I don't know what I would do. she didn't speak
but continued to think for a bit. Her silver tail passed from one side to the other
as she thought about the imponderable.
After a few minutes she tossed her head back and smiled at Trisden.
"I guess I would hope that he was still living happily elsewhere without having to
care for me anymore, or that if he died that he did quickly without pain." Her smile was
wiped away for a second and her eyes looked back down to the ground.
"I guess thats all I could hope for him. Then I would look for a family I could live with."
She smiled again and looked up at the tawny wolf.
"It's not fun being alone and I think you know that." She turned her gaze back to the sky
and struggled with her emotions and keeping them hidden. The silvery wolf did not want
to think of her father as dead. She would still hope for a awhile at least that he was okay.

<blockquote>The question weighed heavily on them both, it appeared. As her company pondered it, Trisden gazed out upon the vast forest, toying with the notion herself, tasting it... tasting rejection. Could she stomach it? Truly stomach it? Trisden had a face for the world and a face for all her inner fears - and for all she would love to believe that they were one and the same, that her strength was genuine and not forced in the slightest... well, it was only a small discrepancy, really. The overlap was vast.

That tiny sliver of doubt which she kept tucked away, though, it felt like a mountain.

The larger girl turned her head, and Trisden glanced back at her, the smile catching her off guard. Such subject matter did not encourage her to smile, rather to grimace. The answer she received was almost absurd in its wisdom, to the point where she wondered if it was truly a genuine answer or simply a pretty one; life was not so black and white, and if this girl really sought her father, then how could she let go so easily? How could she just turn her back knowing that her family was out there, happy without her, that she had failed to find him... that everything she had once wanted was a lie, that she was unwanted - cast away, rejected...

The Lyall fought to keep the turmoil from her face, and largely succeeded, planting a plastic smile on her slender muzzle and keeping it there.

<b>"I do,"</b> she conceded, and it was not an easy thing to admit. Twice she had abandoned them, after all, though it had not been without Hocus; and now here she was, and all she had to show for it was her loneliness. Even her brother had turned her away.

<i>No!</i> She fought the lump which came to her throat with a furious passion, the plastic smile setting all the harder.

<b>"Did you really mean all that?"</b> she asked quietly, her gaze quickly shifted away, unable to look the other in the face as she spoke. <b>"It can't... it couldn't be that easy."</b> Trials had to be hard; that was the point. But could Trisden Lyall, destined for so much, really accept failure? Not just accept it, but understand it, move on from it? She could clearly see her life in Grizzly Hollow, but her future otherwise... she could not see it at all.</blockquote>

With a look back at Trisdens direction Narimé could almost understand
her disbelief, but sometimes things like that just happen. The world isn't fair.


"I don't think even I can just let him go. I will still continue to look for him, but
I think we also have to find ourselves a new home too. Cause life isn't fair most of the time."
She remembered the times she had cried while traveling with her father because she
missed the rest of the pack, and because she felt so confused. He never did tell her
where they were going. Every wolf lives with a burden hanging over their shoulders it seems.


"Sometimes I still cry...when I see doe's with their fawns, or young birds in their nests with their
parents close by watching. I.. I want my family back. But Life is a craphole. and we can't
change our fates. We can try to see things different I think. But.." She had spoken softly
then stopped in her sentence. She was getting all depressed again. Narimé hated those feelings
the most. And she faught hard to see something better at the end of her dark tunnel.


"But...What am I saying? I don't know the answer to your question I guess." She looked
down the cliff side and wondered if flingin herself down it would end everything crappy.
But then again her father would have been snarling at her to think about consequences.
"Right now I can only think about getting through the day, and asking whomever I
come across if they've seen my da." she still had a stoic face as she said this. It seemed
the tawny wolfs depression was like a virus Narimé thought.
"Just keep our hope up right?" She asked Trisden now looking for someone to brighten
her mood. Narimé usually kept her doubts and issues to herself but this other wolf seemed to
understand the weight of shit that piled onto her mind.

<blockquote><i>Life isn't fair.</i> Trisden wasn't sure what to make of that. On the one hand, she agreed more heartily - but then, life wasn't <i>supposed</i> to be fair. You had to be tested to make sure that your beliefs were strong, that your conviction was steady, that you were not weak-minded and flaky.

That's when things got a little weirder, and Trisden found herself frowning at the talk of birds and deer. Was it normal to feel empathy for creatures you regularly ate? While she could appreciate that they had mothers and daughters and probably the same problems... or was that the point? This was way more than she had been expecting to think about. This engaging-in-conversation business was heavy.

<i>Fate!</i> Man, was this girl on the mark, or was this all just coincidence? Trisden didn't know what to think about fate any more, either, but that wasn't to say she hadn't <i>given</i> it a lot of thought. It seemed like this stranger had been pondering it quite a lot, though, and it put Trisden off slightly; she wasn't all that keen on talking about it. She'd spent enough time agonising over 'deep' topics like this.

<b>"Right,"</b> she agreed, though with no small margin of uncertainty. Keeping your hope up sounded so naive - like if they believed it would be okay, then it would! But it wasn't that simple, and they'd already concluded that life wasn't fair. Trisden found her capacity for conversation drying up, intensely uncomfortable as she was about where their little chat was headed. She didn't need this, right now.

Turning away, she stared back out into the open space, unable to meet the larger girl's eyes. If Narimé sought comfort and solidarity, she would not find it. <b>"I'm sorry that I haven't seen him. I hope you find him."</b> For both their sakes. <b>"I should... I should probably get going."</b> Even though she had planned to rest here, for some reason, it did not feel quite so relaxing any more.</blockquote>

Narimé nodded as Trisden said her goodbye. The young wolf
could tell Trisden was suffering from something large weighing her shoulders
down too. Perhaps She thought, We will both find happiness at the end of our
journeys. She smiled once more and looked back down the side of the mountain she
would have to climb down. She was not looking forward to it, and the feeling of dread
followed her as she began nosing around looking for a path of some sort to begin climbing
down.


"I guess this is bye then. I'm still happy to have met you, and I hope we meet again..."
Narimé spoke loud enough to let the other wolf hear and then began climbing
down her side of the mountain. Sharp rocks slid and poked the yearlings paws
as she disappeared over her side of the mountain.
{Exit Narimé)